Dakin Humane Society Announces 2025 Humane Award Winners

SPRINGFIELD — Dakin Humane Society honored six people, one company, and a dedicated guide dog at its 2025 Humane Awards, which were held at Dakin’s Springfield location on Nov. 13. Meg Talbert, executive director at Dakin, and Kaitlyn Holloway, Dakin’s Community Engagement manager, presided over the award ceremony. The winners of the 2025 Dakin Humane Awards are:

• Katelin Welles (Richard & Nathalie Woodbury Philanthropy Humane Award). This award is bestowed to a leader in the community displays remarkable stewardship in sharing time, talent, and resources to improve the lives of animals and people who love them. Welles is a Navy veteran and a former addiction counselor who currently volunteers as a wildlife rehabilitator. She is especially dedicated to caring for neonatal kittens and recently completed a surrender counseling workshop to help families keep their beloved pets whenever possible. Dakin is one of several East Coast humane societies she supports philanthropically, and her generosity has enabled Dakin to enhance its Kitten ICU, provide winter shelters for feral cats, restock much-needed supplies, and provide a number of services for animals in need and the people who love them.

• Trystan Candelario (Youth Humane Award). This award honors a hero, age 16 or younger, who displays extraordinary care and compassion to make a difference in the lives of animals. Candelario began helping animals at age 7. In 2023, at age 10, he rescued two vulnerable and hungry puppies while visiting Puerto Rico, brought them back to his Massachusetts home, and helped them find families to care for them. He has built feral cat outdoor shelters to help cats stay warm in the winter, fundraised for animal causes, and helped rescue animals both locally and far away. He has also returned to Puerto Rico after natural disasters to help feed animals left without homes.

• Dr. Lauren Atkins (Frances M. Wells Humane Award). This award, named for the Greenfield Animal Shelter’s benefactor, is given to an individual recognized for notable contributions to the health and welfare of animals. After launching her career in animal welfare 28 years ago in South Carolina, Atkins eventually moved north and became the first veterinarian hired when Dakin moved into its Springfield location. She also spent a decade at Thomas J. O’Connor Animal Control and Adoption Center, continuing to improve shelter medicine and the quality of care for thousands of animals. Her most compassionate chapter began when she founded Paws Finding Peace, a practice dedicated to at-home euthanasia that allows families to say goodbye to beloved pets with dignity and love.

• Melissa Dawn Vancini (Champion Humane Award). This award honors an individual who serves in the public or nonprofit sector who has faithfully made life better for tens of thousands of animals and people. Vancini is the founder of Missing Mutts Search & Rescue, a volunteer-based nonprofit group that helps reunite lost pets with their owners through free search and rescue services. The group is the culmination of a decade spent as a foster caregiver for dogs, many of whom were scared and a flight risk. Through patience and care, Vancini learned how to work with these dogs and help them settle in, understand what each one responded to best, and give them time to adjust to their new settings. Over time, an idea took shape to open her own dog recovery group, which became Missing Mutts Search & Rescue.

• Bernie (guide dog) and David Roulston (Distinguished Animal Humane Award). This award recognizes an exceptional animal (and human handler) whose extraordinary devotion to people has proved transformative or lifesaving in challenging or exceptional circumstances. Few partnerships embody the human-animal bond more beautifully than Roulston and his guide dog, Bernie. Roulston has spent his life in service to others, and his work has been guided by integrity and compassion. For the past 45 years as an attorney, he has defended the rights of people facing some of the most difficult moments of their lives: those caught in the legal system while battling addiction and struggling with their mental health. He did all this while living with an incurable eye condition he’s had for more than 25 years. Beside him every step of the way have been his guide dogs, including his current companion, Bernie. Roulston and Bernie were honored for demonstrating how the human-animal bond can transform lives with service and grace.

• Berkshire Bank (Corporate Leadership Humane Award). This award is presented to a business or its corporate foundation that demonstrates outstanding commitment to improve the lives of animals through employee giving, volunteerism, or partnership. Berkshire Bank, a division of Beacon Bank & Trust, is committed to helping those in its communities live their best lives and reach their full financial potential. In addition to giving back to the communities it serves through grants, sponsorships, and campaigns, the bank’s employees tirelessly support Dakin’s work in a variety of ways, including serving on its board of directors, volunteering at its Will Run for Cookies 5K, holding a ‘kitten shower’ to collect donations from local financial center personnel, and standing in as Mrs. Claus at a pet photos with Santa event.

• Charlotte Cathro (Janet Wilder Dakin Lifetime Achievement Humane Award). This award is bestowed to a person whose life’s work has exhibited exemplary leadership, selfless commitment, passion, and extraordinary dedication to advancing animal welfare. From her first family dog to an impactful school trip to a farm that led her, at age 9, to stop eating meat (and ultimately adopt a vegan diet), Cathro has worked tirelessly to improve the lives of animals through rescuing, fostering, and caring for them. Shortly after relocating to Western Mass. in 2011, she joined Dakin’s board of directors, bringing her financial expertise to strengthen the organization, eventually serving as treasurer, finance chair, and president. Thanks to her expertise and guidance, Dakin has a solid financial foundation and sustainable future. She tackled all that while running her own business, teaching, and raising a family.